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Inquiry Case Study INQUIRY CASE STUDY An Inquiry Case Study has the following characteristics: • It focuses on a real world situation and provides facts about it, including relevant background information. • Crucially, it does not disclose the actual resolution. • Guided by the learning goals of the case, writers have to make choices about the extent of the case facts to include and leave out. It can be limited, forcing readers to make multiple inferences about relevant facts, or it can be dense, forcing readers to sift through the information and decide what is most relevant to the main issue. Some information may be incomplete or ambiguous – as it often is in real world situations – thus requiring readers to make inferences about its relevance to the situation. • Some of the facts may be "distractors": they are not essential and simulate the "noise" real world participants would encounter when trying to understand the situation. • It asks readers to take on the role of characters in the case and decide what knowledge – such as concepts, frameworks, policies, and tools – is relevant to the situation, propose a resolution, and justify it with evidence from the case. An Inquiry Case is a real world story without the actual real world ending. The author does not interpret the information in the case or explain what it means. For example, a case telling a story about decision to authorize a project does not reveal the final choice. It also does not tell readers what information is important to consider in making the decision, how the information is relevant to the decision, or which decision option is best supported by the evidence. These omissions may seem to negate the value of a story, but an Inquiry Case has a specific learning goal that requires omission of the ending and of any interpretation of the case information. The goal is to have readers interpret the case information on their own and consider the best ending as if they were the main character in the case. The value of Inquiry Cases for students is that they provide opportunities to practice and receive feedback in the essential skills students will have to perform in the real world. Instructors can teach students about essential skills, but only through practice and instructive feedback will students develop proficiency in using those skills. Inquiry Cases give learners an opportunity to develop and hone real world skills. Writing an Inquiry Case Here are four writing issues essential to building an Inquiry Case: • Choosing the main issue and main characters • Developing the fact base • Avoiding interpretative statements • Designing the story arc 1 Choosing the Main Issue and Main Characters First, the writer needs to identify the main issue of the case and the main characters. The main issue depends on the real world situation the story will narrate. Fortunately, the main issues of most Inquiry Cases fall into one of three distinct categories: 1. Decision 2. Diagnosis 3. Evaluation Briefly, many cases begin and end with a character or group considering a decision that needs to be made. Not surprisingly, this is the most common type of case, at least in business disciplines. Example: a government agency must decide the best available option for financing a large housing project. When diagnosis is the main issue, a character or group is confronting some kind of outcome that they don't understand. They must diagnose the causes of the outcome in order to do something about it. Example: an important and expensive project has failed to meet its goals and the causes of the failure are not certain. The stakeholders want to know what major causes drove the failure. When the main issue is evaluation, a character or group has to assess something (such as a performance, act, or a past decision), usually in order to take some kind of informed action. Example: a major redevelopment project was completed five years ago and the stakeholders want to evaluate whether it is achieving its longer term goals. A case can be written as a story without people. For instance, a case can describe the actions of organizations rather than individuals. However, stories are more engaging with people in them. Moreover, most real world situations revolve around at least a few key people. Finally, a strong main character gives readers a focal point for thinking about the case. Designing the Story Arc The writer has to structure the arc of the story, deciding where it will start, in what order information will be delivered, and how to end it. Defining the main issue of the case is a necessary step to designing the story arc. For instance, a story about a decision is going to be different from one about a diagnosis. A case about a decision should introduce the decision and decision makers early in the story. A case about a diagnosis should start by describing the subject that needs to be diagnosed and the main character or characters who will be involved in the diagnosis. Please see the Inquiry Case Templates below for more guidance about organizing the case story. 2 Developing the Fact Base Writers have to decide what information to include in a case and what to leave out. An author's research for a case almost always yields far more information than can be realistically presented in a case. Too much information can overwhelm readers and make the task of identifying essential information onerous. It can also obscure the case's main issue. Short cases have advantages for both instructors and students. Students often are more willing to read and think about a short case, which leads to a better discussion of it. Short cases require authors to maintain a tight focus on the main issue. They also are not necessarily easier than long cases. Given a limited fact base, readers have to make multiple inferences about relevant facts and what they mean. In long cases, the fact base is extensive, and readers have to sift through a large amount of information, identify facts, and decide which are most relevant to the main issue. Long cases can be a good match for individuals with extensive experience in a field such as graduate students and professionals. They can also provide a serious challenge for readers to differentiate crucial information from less important information or information that has little to no value ("noise"). Some information in a case may be incomplete, ambiguous, or misleading – as it often is in the real world. Learning to recognize such information and knowing when reasonable inferences can be made from them are valuable skills. Finally, an Inquiry Case may include information that is a distraction: it is not essential and simulates the noise encountered in the real world. This too is a useful skill because the real world generates high levels of noise. Avoiding Interpretative Statements Writers of Inquiry Cases have to avoid making statements that interpret the information in the case for readers or make judgments for them. Academics and professionals used to writing articles and papers often find these statements hard to resist. However, the writer can represent different interpretations and judgments regarding the content through characters in the case. For example, the two main characters of a case can express conflicting opinions about the main issue. General Information about the Case This section is not part of the case itself. The information will help the Lincoln Institute describe the case to potential users and support users to find relevant cases in the digital case library. • Topic and subtopics • Timeframe • Learning goals 3 • Primary audience • Prerequisite knowledge • Brief summary Topic and Subtopics Specify the topic and subtopics to help instructors and facilitators understand how the case fits into a discipline. Timeframe Specify the inclusive dates of the main events of the case. Learning Goals States the knowledge, skills, and expected outcomes of the case using active verbs (understand, apply, analyze, evaluate or create). Primary Audience Indicate the most appropriate audience for the case. Example: graduate urban planning students. Prerequisite Knowledge Specify what the primary audience needs to know to make best use of the case. Brief Summary In a few sentences describe the primary topic of the case and the major events it covers. 4 INQUIRY CASE TEMPLATES Title of the Case The title should state the main subject of the case. Interesting titles and subtitles can pique reader interest. Example: The Hudson Yards Infrastructure Project: Banking on the Future in Manhattan. Introduction of the Main Issue and Characters The first section of the case should be relatively short. (By "section" we mean one or more paragraphs set off by headings in the text.) Remember that most readers will not be familiar with the subject of the case and a long and verbose first section will likely overload them with information. Overload has only negative consequences: it can confuse the audience, discourage them from reading further, or cause them to start skimming. The first section of the case story should introduce the main character and the subject of the case. Information about the main character typically includes the name, the character's job or position, background, and relationship to the subject of the case. If there are several characters of equal importance to the case story, they should be introduced in the first section – as succinctly as possible. How to express the subject of the case depends on the type of case: • Decision: the decision should be explicitly stated. Authors also often include the major decision options in the first section, but they can be described in later sections or even at the end of the case.
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